


technicolor beat

by dwreed



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Teachers, Fluff, M/M, Matt's a high school orchestra director, Shiro is their new accompanist, gay ensues, just and abundance of gay and fluff, keith is matt's college intern and lance is also doing field work hours at the same school, will add tags as i wrote more
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-16
Updated: 2017-12-16
Packaged: 2019-02-15 16:16:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13034811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dwreed/pseuds/dwreed
Summary: Really, Matt felt like he should have known better than to get pieces that needed someone to play the piano. He’d overlooked it, had deemed the fact as something that future him would have to worry about and had called it a day.So now future him was paying the price, scratching at the back of his head sheepishly as his TA pulled out his phone to text a friend that could fill in as piano accompaniment.When Takashi Shirogane stepped into the music room at 3 p.m. on Monday afternoon Matt Holt almost had a heart attack.





	technicolor beat

**Author's Note:**

  * For [efrondeur](https://archiveofourown.org/users/efrondeur/gifts).



> i'd planned on this being a really long oneshot but i'm s...loW. 
> 
> happy birthday, Red! hope you enjoy, friend. <3

Really, Matt felt like he should have known better than to get pieces that needed someone to play the piano. He’d overlooked it, had deemed the fact as something that  _ future him  _ would have to worry about and had called it a day.

 

So now future him was paying the price, scratching at the back of his head sheepishly as his TA pulled out his phone to text a friend that could fill in as piano accompaniment. Keith had a rough exterior, but once Matt had started to talk to him he’d realized he was a pretty soft-spoken guy. Withdrawn and hesitant, especially quiet when the girls in Matt’s class giggled over him. Matt could see why they blushed and picked on him - he was pretty easy to pick on; slow to pick up on social cues, easily flustered, a little hot-headed, generally kind of adorable. But he was a good kid, just a student at the local university trying to get field work hours for his class.

 

Anyways, Keith had given Matt his friend’s phone number, and Matt had arranged a stipend for him so that he could help them during rehearsals and performances. They’d lived through a quarter of the semester without a pianist - they  _ could  _ do it, but then when they came to the  _ Phantom of the Opera  _ medley the whole thing would be a complete and utter bust. The best part about it was the piano solo from  _ Think of Me _ . He  _ needed  _ a pianist for it, and that wasn’t even counting  _ Rhapsody in Blue _ . 

 

Yeah, Matt definitely needed to be better about his music choices. At least now they have a pianist? 

 

(Although, maybe he should just hold himself more accountable for his actions. But no.)

 

It was finally the day he was meeting with this Takashi Shirogane man so that he could gauge where he would be working and get the sheet music. That was the main objective. Meet this man, give him sheet music, get to know him a little bit, and then be on his way until their next rehearsal. 

 

When Takashi Shirogane stepped into the music room at 3 p.m. on Monday afternoon Matt Holt almost had a heart attack. He wasn’t sure it was him at first, but then Keith was smiling up at him and conversing more openly than Matt had ever seen him converse before. He only stopped talking to check in one of their violinists, but then he was back to talking and then waving Matt over. Matt swallowed the butterflies in his throat and strode over, holding a hand to the man with rippling muscles and  _ dear god Matt kind of wants this guy to choke him out.  _

 

“Mr. Holt, this is Shiro. Shiro, this is Mr. Holt.” Keith watched them for only a moment before he was attending to the high schoolers coming in again. One of them was a girl who’d left a love note in Keith’s backpack the week previous. She was blushing furiously as she greeted him, seeming flustered even though he only gave her a grunt in reply. 

 

“Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Holt.” Takashi Shirogane - or Shiro, as Keith had called him - shook his hand, firm and warm. His arm was covered in scars Matt couldn’t even begin to guess the origins of. He decided not to ask. 

 

“You can call me Matt. The pleasure is all mine. Sorry, my hands are sweaty.” Why was he apologizing for that? What if Shiro hadn’t noticed and he’d just drawn attention to the fact? Shiro laughed good-naturedly, his eyes crinkling at the corners as he pulled away. 

 

“It’s okay. Happens to the best of us.” His smile was so gorgeous Matt felt like he might implode. 

 

“You can, uh, make yourself comfortable anywhere-” 

 

“Mr. Holt, the TARDIS isn’t open.” Matt turned from the conversation, one of his students tugging at the doors to the supply room, which were painted TARDIS blue like the police box. Some of Matt’s friends from his graduating class had painted it when Matt had first started teaching. Matt sighed, rummaging in his pocket for his keys but they weren’t there. 

 

Keith reached into the bag Matt had left at the door the moment he’d gotten there and immediately located them, throwing them across the table. Matt was slow to react, but Shiro caught them effortlessly and handed them over to him, hardly phased. Something about Shiro’s expression stole the breath from Matt’s lungs. 

 

“Thanks. Uh, as I was saying. Make yourself comfortable anywhere you want. All of the photocopies for the music are- oh, thank you, Keith.” Keith reached yet again into the bag Matt had left, pulling out a purple folder with Shiro’s name on it in his chicken scratch, one step ahead of him. “I’m just gonna, uh-...” He pointed over his shoulder awkwardly, backing away slowly before turning to shuffle his way to the supply room with his keys. He fumbled to unlock it, scratching at his head nervously as he peeked over his shoulder to see where Shiro had ended up. 

 

He was sitting next to Keith, one leg crossed over the other knee and leaning back with his arms crossed over his chest. Matt eyed him for a moment, admiring the swell of his biceps, almost falling over a music stand. 

 

_ That’s what you get for staring. Get it together!  _ He took a deep breath, wandering back over to grab his bag and digging through it, pulling out the large folder of sheet music and going to set it up at his own music stand at the front of the music room.

 

“Hi, Mr. Holt!” A pair of voices called from the check-in table - twins Astrid and Andrew. He waved, trying to snap himself out of his flustered daze as the boy set his violin case down on his chair and hustled up to him. 

 

“She said yes!” Andrew held out a fist and Matt bumped it automatically before he could even remember what he was talking about. But then it registered. 

 

“Oh! That’s amazing!” He gave Andrew a side hug, even though Andrew was giving him a full-bodied squeeze. “Have you found a doctor to start transitioning yet?” 

 

Andrew shrugged. “I’m going to see one next week.” He pulled away, shaking his head to get his fringe out of his face. 

 

“Well, tell me how it goes.” Matt called after him as he ran off to tell another of his friends in his section, leaving Matt sighing and turning to the girl sitting in first cello. She nodded. He nodded back.

 

“Okay, everyone. If you could find your seats please and begin tuning.” Matt grabbed his baton, pulling his hair up and out of his face with the hair tie around his wrist, pushing his glasses up with his pointer finger as he listened to everyone's’ shuffling. When finally the tuning began, Matt felt more into his job, able to focus on the task at hand and put thoughts of their new accompanist on the back burner. 

 

But he really should introduce Shiro, shouldn’t he? 

 

Once everyone had gone quiet he smiled, glancing around at the attentive and tired faces of his students. “How are you all feeling today?” 

 

Aside from one cheerful “I’m doing great!” from a french horn player in the back everyone bemoaned differing levels of distress or indifference. 

 

“Good…?” Matt raised an eyebrow in confusion. A few girls giggled. “Anyway, as you can see we have a guest today. Takashi Shirogane, sitting over there by Keith.” He gestured and a few people waved at Shiro, a chime of hello’s coming from everyone. “He’s our potential pianist so he’ll be observing today.” 

 

The French horns whooped and everyone else clapped politely. Shiro was flushing, waving sheepishly and scratching his head. 

 

Matt tore his eyes away from him, gazing down at the sheer music and taking a deep breath. “Shall we start with  _ Pirates of the Caribbean _ ?” 

 

Rehearsals sounded like a mess; it was obvious that everyone was tired and not in it. The only saving grace was that the French horns were improving, so much so that he’d run between the seats to high five all of them after their solo. But… everything else was sloppy. 

 

“Please practice this weekend, we’ve done better than we did today! And come back refreshed on Monday.” Everyone packed up tiredly. The energy was super low. 

 

Matt let out a deep breath, beginning to pack up his sheet music. A few parents came up to say hi to him, but mostly the kids were just leaving and chattering amongst themselves. Matt made his way to the table, giving Shiro and Keith a tired smile. 

 

“You guys sound good.” Shiro smiled, all genuine. Matt grimaced, voice dropping to a whisper. 

 

“You don’t have to lie about it.” And then, as one of the students left; “Have a good weekend, Ferris,” more lively and cheerful.” 

 

“Bye Mr. Holt!” Ferris waved, throwing a flirty wave over her shoulder at Keith. Keith didn’t respond, looking back down at his phone. Matt and Shiro both looked at each other and stifled giggles. 

 

“I’m not lying. There’s always room for improvement, but it still sounds great.” Shiro continued as if uninterrupted. Matt flushed, pushing his glasses on top of his head. 

 

“I appreciate that.” Matt turned to see that the room was empty but was a mess; music stands left out and chairs unstacked. He made a mental note to act particularly annoyed on Monday. “Uh-.”

 

“Hey, Keith!” Another voice chimed in - another TA, who worked in the ESL tutoring program. 

 

“Oh. Hi Lance.” Keith’s irritated expression softened at the sight of the other TA. Both Shiro and Matt exchanged another look. 

 

“Do you need a ride today?” Lance stepped into the room, waving at Matt and Shiro shyly as he did so. 

 

“Uh-. No, I have my bus pass.” Keith blinked. Lance flushed, shuffling awkwardly. 

 

“Uh, right. Yeah. Are you sure? It would probably be faster if I just drove you…” Lance tried again. Matt was impressed with his determination. 

 

“Well-“

 

“You’d get home in time to catch your show, Keith.” Shiro chimed in. Keith opened his mouth, and then closed it in confusion. 

 

“I guess… I have to help clean up, though.” Keith pushed himself to his feet, wandering over to the mess of chairs and music stands as if to make a point. 

 

“I’ll help you.” Lance moved to help him. Matt was unsure if he was eager or if his long legs strode so far anyways that it just seemed that way. Lance was trying to make idle chatter with Keith, but Keith seemed subdued, face red. 

 

Matt turned back to Shiro, hoping he didn’t come off as awkward as Keith. “Have you had a chance to look at the sheet music?” He motioned to the huge purple folder, chewing at his lip. It didn’t look like he’d cracked it open, but Shiro nodded.

 

“Yeah, I was reading along with you guys.” He smiled, going to tug some of the music from the folder and staring down at it. “I can’t wait to get started learning all of this.” Matt peeked down at the music curiously, shuffling his feet. He couldn’t wait for Shiro to begin learning either; he was eager to listen to him play the piano. 

 

“I’m excited for us to have proper piano accompaniment.” Matt smiled at him, and when Shiro smiled back the moment stretched on for a moment too long, flustering Matt enough to take a few steps backward and into a chair still sitting out. He very nearly fell over it - the second chair he’d run into that day, but Shiro was on him in a second, grabbing him by the forearm and tugging him back upright. 

 

“Careful there.” 

 

Matt felt like he couldn’t breathe. “Thanks…” Shiro’s eyes were the exact stormy gray color that Matt had wanted his eyes to be when he was younger. It didn’t make the butterflies in his stomach any better. 

 

“All clean, Mr. Holt!” Lance snapped him out of his daze cheerfully, and Matt stepped away from Shiro with a quick sidestep. 

 

“Oh, thank you so much. I really appreciate that.” He watched at Lance threw his backpack over one shoulder, shoving his free hand in his pocket as he watched Keith slowly gather his stuff. 

 

“You don’t need me for anything else…?” Keith questioned, sounding like he wanted a way out. Matt shook his head, not giving it to him. 

 

“Nope! You can go. Have a good weekend, Keith.” Keith followed Lance out the door, face impossibly red and looking like he wanted to shove his head into a sandbox. Shiro sighed upon their exit, hands shoved into the pockets of his slacks. 

 

“College kids.” Matt wasn’t sure what Shiro meant by that exactly, but still agreed.

 

“College was almost as confusing as high school. If I figured it out they will, too.” He shrugged his bag over his shoulder, and Shiro grabbed the folder from the table, tucking it under his arm. They made their way out of the music room, and Matt locked the doors behind them. 

 

It was just getting dark outside, the night pink, orange, and purple. The yellow street lamps in the parking lot were glowing against the twilight sky, casting shadows over the few cars still there. 

 

“Uh, well. It was nice to meet you. I’ll see you on Monday?” He held a hand out to Shiro and Shiro took it, his hand warm against the chilly evening air. Matt felt a quiet tug at his heart when the handshake was over, palm feeling particularly empty. He fisted his hand to try to retain some of the heat. 

 

“See you Monday. I look forward to working with you.” Shiro waved and then they parted ways. Matt placed his bag in his car, and when he plopped down into his seat he took a deep breath, letting his head bump against the headrest. 

 

_ God,  _ what had gotten into him? He didn’t even know this guy and yet he was sending Matt’s feelings all aflutter, like he was a teenager again crushing on some beautiful person he’d never talked to before. 

 

If he thought about it too hard he’d only get more frustrated, so he turned his key in the ignition and drove home.

 

* * *

 

Matt’s favorite season was Fall, when all the trees became tinged with orange and red, the cold robbing them of green, and when he could begin to wear scarves and long sleeves and boots. He had a huge collection of Fall appropriate sweaters in his closet, and even though he was frequently made fun of for his grandpa sweaters every year, it was every Fall that more and more kids in the orchestra came in with similar, thrifted sweaters. One year Matt just wanted to get everyone grandpa sweaters; maybe not everyone, considering his budget. Maybe the graduating students. Yeah, he could probably pull that if he saved up for a bit. 

 

He stared blankly at the TV as he waited for his coffee, eyebrows pulled together at the news channel. With Christmas around the corner, it wasn’t so bad; everyone was doing charity television broadcasts and doing stories about people being kind, but somehow Matt missed all of the negativity. He didn’t feel as well informed when all of the news anchors were all smiles and talking about the dumb  _ Macy’s _ Thanksgiving Parade. 

 

He’d just pushed his French Press down when there was a rapid knock on his door. He glanced at the clock on his microwave in confusion and then headed towards the door, peeking through the peephole. His little sister was on his doorstep, hood up and looking down at her rain boots. Matt only recognized her because she’d stolen the jacket she was wearing straight from his closet.

 

Sulu, the grumpy black cat he’d adopted from a shelter a year and a half previous, trotted into the room curiously as he opened the front door, and then went meowing up to Katie as soon as she stepped inside. “Hey…” Matt greeted her, confused. Typically she would text him if she were coming over, and it was  _ Monday morning.  _ She should be on her way to school.

 

“Hi.” She picked Sulu up and gave no explanation, cuddling him to her chest as he purred. She was unusually quiet, and that was enough for Matt to get the picture. 

 

“You know you should go to school today.” He wandered back over to his coffee and grabbed another mug, pouring both him and Katie a cup.

 

“Can’t you call in for me?” 

 

To be completely honest, Matt  _ would.  _ It wasn’t as though his sister weren’t smarter than all of the teachers at her school, and attendance hardly damaged her grades. But it was still the  _ principle  _ of the thing. You wake up and you go to school. That’s just how life worked until you graduated high school or college. “Why?” He poured creamer into his cup, forewent creamer and went straight to the sugar for his sister. 

 

“Just don’t feel like going…” Her voice broke and she left it at that. Something was up but they’d only fight if he pushed her to talk about it, so he reached into his pocket for his cell phone and glanced at the magnet on his refrigerator that had Katie’s school’s phone number. 

 

“Hi, Mrs. Thurston this is Matthew Holt, Katie’s brother... Yeah, I’m good, how are you?... That’s great. Katie woke up with a fever today so I think I’m going to keep her in bed today… yeah, I was driving her today because of the rain, she’s in pretty rough shape…” He gave her an unamused look but she was still looking down at Sulu, going over to the couch to curl up in the corner. “Yeah, I’ll tell her. Thank you. Goodbye.” 

 

Matt hung up and shoved his phone back into his pocket, grabbing the cup of coffee he’d made her and crossing the tiny space to the living room to hand it to her. She released the cat to grab it, but Sulu stayed on her lap, resting his head on her thigh and purring away happily. “Are you going to explain why I had to call out for you?” 

 

She shook her head and sniffled. 

 

Katie got quiet. She yelled, and screamed, and kicked. But she didn’t ever  _ sniffle.  _ The last time Matt had ever seen her cry was when she was seven years old, when their parents' dog had died. Was Matt going to have to punch a high schooler? Oh god, he’s going to have to punch a high schooler. 

 

“Alright… we’re talking about it later, though.” Matt grabbed his coat from the rack and pulled it over his shoulders, grabbing the bag with all of his sheet music and watching Katie as she began to skim through the channels. “Nothing good is on TV during weekdays,” he informed her as he stepped out the door. 

 

The rain was buffeting down in sheets. Pidge definitely picked a good day to ditch class, because while Matt sat in the teacher’s lounge in between his classes he kept dozing off to the sound of the pitter-pattering on the roof. 

 

Finally, the after-school symphony program started and Matt was still half-asleep, lounging in the chair by the front desk and dozing as Keith checked everyone in. Everyone knew that Matt was pretty grumpy when he was tired, so everyone let him lull in the chair, whispering to each other and quietly tuning their instruments. He’d been there for probably ten minutes before Shiro got there, looking spiffy in a pair of glasses and a raincoat. Shiro shook out his umbrella and set it aside, shrugging his coat off and glancing around curiously, puzzled by the quiet. When he noticed Matt the corner of his mouth quirked up, and he contemplated for a moment before speaking up. 

 

“Having a rough day?” He guessed. It startled Matt awake, hands swiping over the desk and knocking his glasses to the floor in his panic. 

 

“Oh. Uh-. I mean. Not particularly.” Matt got to his knees so that he could feel around for his glasses, unable to see anything without them, but Shiro was quicker. He kneeled down and picked them up, gently placing them into Matt’s searching hands. The butterflies in Matt’s chest started to frenzy, and he placed his glasses on his face with red cheeks, finally able to see Shiro clearly. 

 

It didn’t make the butterflies any calmer. 

 

“Thanks,” he wheezed. Shiro grinned, standing and offering a hand to help Matt to his feet. Matt took it almost too eagerly, letting Shiro pull him to his feet and dusting off his knees. 

 

“Of course. Are you doing alright?” 

 

Aside from the rain making exhaustion creep into his bones, Matt supposed he was alright. “I’m doing good.” It wasn’t particularly a lie. He glanced up at the clock and then scrambled to grab at his bag of sheet music; it was already time for them to start. “Hello everyone!” He projected over the sounds of tuning and quiet chatter. 

 

“Good morning, Mr. Holt.” The class chimed back, some through giggles. Matt pushed his glasses farther up his face, lips pursed in faux annoyance. His students are lucky that he likes them so much.

 

“You can finish tuning up and then we’re going to continue to get through  _ Rhapsody in Blue _ .” He began to flip the pages of his huge binder to the sheet music, toying with the baton in his fingers. He was keenly aware of Shiro moving behind him to get to the piano, which was situated next to the cellos over his right shoulder. He glanced over for a moment, eyes zeroing in on where Shiro’s pants perfectly shaped his butt and  _ Matt get a grip on yourself, you’re in front of your students right now.  _

 

He promptly turned away, pulling the top half of his hair out of his eyes with an elastic. After a couple minutes all of the students were looking at him intently, and Matt gave them a small smile. “We’ll warm up slow while we get back into it, speed it up a bit, and then go in and fine tune things, yeah?” 

 

Everyone readied their instruments. Matt counted them in, and it was go time. 

 

The beginning in and of itself was already improving, and Matt felt a swell of pride for his students as they worked through the beginning with hardly any mishaps. Hearing Shiro begin playing made something in his stomach tighten, but he tried to make himself concentrate. Still, the longer Shiro’s solo went on, the more entranced he became with the whole thing until finally it was time to cue the entire orchestra back in and he forgot to cue them back in. 

 

The majority of the students came back in anyways, but the few who’d gotten lost counting the measures scrambled, the big climax coming to a clashing halt. 

 

It definitely snapped Matt out of it, that’s for sure. Most everyone laughed, but Matt was feeling pretty mortified, and he scratched the back of his neck sheepishly as he swallowed thickly. 

 

“Sorry, sorry. Uh-...” Oh god, he had to address Shiro. “Where are you comfortable starting back up so I can cue them in properly?” He changed a look back to see Shiro scanning through the music. 

 

“I can do a few measures before the cue if you’d like. It doesn’t matter.” Shiro glanced at him, kind eyes patient. Matt immediately felt less anxious. 

 

“Okay, uh. Let’s go five measures then.” He motioned for everyone to ready their instruments again and gave Shiro the go ahead… 

 

And cued everyone in right this time. 

 

Matt was pretty sure he was screwed.


End file.
